The American musical theatre song encyclopedia - Thomas S. Hischak
Call Number: ML102 .M88 H59 1995
ISBN 0313294070
Most useful for giving song summaries (which character sings it, where it comes in the musical, etc.).
American Song - Ken Bloom
Call Number: ML 128 .M78 B6 1996
ISBN 0028704843
Indexes many musicals and films. Contains name index for composers, cast members, producers, choreographers, etc. Very useful for finding more information about a song if you only know the song's title.
American Song: The Complete Companion to Tin Pan Alley Song - Ken Bloom
Call Number: ML 128 .P63 B62 2001
ISBN 0028654781
Volume I lists composers and gives chronological lists of their works. Volume II contains general song index, song index by year (helpful for choosing repertoire).
Broadway Sheet Music - Donald J. Stubblebine
Call Number: ML128.M78S78 1996
ISBN 0786400471
Listing of live musical stage productions, subarranged by individual song or piece title, showing composers, lyricists, publishers, dates, stars, and brief comments.
New Broadway Song Companion - David P. DeVenney
Call Number: ML 102 .M88 H59 1995
ISBN 0810833735
Very useful for picking repertoire for recitals or auditions: details musicals by title and gives range and style (character ballad, uptempo, slow, funny, etc.) for each song. Also contains lists of songs by style and voice type.
Great Song Thesaurus - Roger Lax & Frederick Smith
Call Number: ML 128 .S3 L4 1989
ISBN 0195054083
Most useful because it contains a "keyword" index: look up "money" and you get "Are You Making Any Money," "I've Got Five Dollars," "The Money Tree," "We're In The Money," etc. Helpful if you don't know the exact title.
Hollywood Song - Ken Bloom
Call Number: ML 128 .MYB6 1995
ISBN 0816020027
Everything you need to know about songs in film in 3 volumes.
Show tunes: the songs, shows, and careers of Broadway's major composers - Steven Suskin
Call Number: ML128.M78 S86 2000
ISBN 0195125991
Summarizes and discusses the works of 36 major musical theatre composers. Contains song title index, list of collaborators, and chronological list of productions. Also lists songs that are unpublished, cut, or published, cut, or published for later versions and films.
When you need a song or aria, you might not know what show or opera or film it comes from and sometimes it is only available in a collection. Though you can find most songs and arias using a keyword search in the library catalog with "quick limit" of scores, some collections don't have the table of contents online, so you have to use books that list songs or special volumes that index songs in collections. This page lists books that list songs and those that index collections and anthologies.
How to choose a song. Several of the Internet sites to the right help you choose the song that's right for you. See Backstage, Stage Agent , or ask your teacher!
How to use an index: Look up the title of the piece. Once you have found what you want there will be a string of letters or numbers, or a combination of the two. Use this code to look in the front of the volume to find the collection or anthology - then check the library catalog to see if we own it.
Song Indexes
Performing Arts Library Sheet Music List - An .pdf listing the over 2,000 individual songs in our collection. See library staff. An Excel file can be found in the box below.